Reviews Books The Fresh Mint-flavored JC Lit Reviews Special: A NEW DAWN (spoilers)

As a literal new dawn of SW publishing, this book had a lot riding on it. Fortunately, it was in the ever capable hands of John Jackson Miller, and he managed to tell a story that not only fits with what came before, but reimagines just what makes a SW novel unique within the vast pantheon of sci-fi/fantasy literature.

JJM always has a knack for creating a bunch of characters who couldn’t be more different from each other, only to end up together due to wild circumstances. In the end we have a Jedi-turned-help for hire, Rebel scout, government surveillance expert, and crackpot theorist/miner all joining together working toward a common cause: Count Vidian. Each of these characters is fleshed out really well over the course of the novel, with Kanan, the former Jedi, as the main POV character. Over the course of the novel he struggles with his life as a person who always has to hide their true nature, but eventually becomes more comfortable with openly helping others, even at his own expense. Hera notices this as well, and while she sees him act the hero early on, it’s only later that she realizes just how selfless ha can actually be. Then there’s Zaluna, who finally realizes just how much of a government stooge she was and risks everything to help out the people of Gorse.

The characters almost driving the entire plot, though, are probably the least sane of the bunch. Count Vidian is the face of the Empire in this book, and he definitely seems like the type Palpatine would be quite chummy with. Taking “more machine than man” to new heights, Vidian has all the ruthlessness of the Sith as well as all their vision. His actions on Gorse seem to be typical of the Empire of late, which is why Hera is investigating him in order to make the case stronger for a future Rebellion. And then there’s Skelly, a man with infinite patience for others, even when no one has any patience for him. He initially tries to work with Vidian in order to mine Gorse’s moon more efficiently, until he realizes Vidian favors efficiency without caring about the consequences, in this instance the deaths of many miners and other civilians. He’s definitely the most unique of the characters in the book, and while the reader finds him annoying at first, once we see just how genuine he is we can’t help but empathise with the guy, which makes his ultimate fate all the more satisfying.

There are a lot of great side characters too- from Kanan’s Besalisk boss Lal Grallik and her husband, to his almost father-figure Okadiah, whose bond with Kanan makes the latter realise that he’s become too attached to Gorse and should leave before anyone comes to harm because of him. Yet, Kanan learns that the Empire doesn’t care about little details like that- its guns are indiscriminate. But Vidian isn’t the only Imperial in the book; there’s also Rae Sloan, who shows that there are plenty of pragmatic officers in the Empire’s ranks, while still being ambitious enough to survive in such a cutthroat environment. And while she never really cuts Kanan and his compatriots much slack, she does heed their wisdom when they point out that Vidian is nothing but a danger to Gorse.

Overall this was a really fun book. The characterisations are great, and the story itself is gripping. There’s plenty of good action and good humor, oftentimes mixed together, such as Skelly constantly blowing **** up. And for a prequel to the Rebels TV show this does really well at setting up one of the main aspects of the show without needing to rush toward developing that plot detail. There’s also a nice balance of the overbearing presence of the Empire in relation to the hectic days of the Clone Wars; it’s been quite a while since the war ended, so while its effects are still felt, the story is very firmly rooted in the Imperial era.

I give A New Dawn a 9.2 out of 10 for a great little adventure featuring some of the Rebels cast, and a well-fleshed out new world and supporting cast.

 

Average Score Update (including my rating below): 214.95/25 = 8.60

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"There are truths, and there are legends touch with truth, and all can teach you something." -Obi-Wan Kenobi

The "origin story" for Hera, Kanan and Sloane here does a good job of sort of introducing the post-Clone Wars, established-Empire era, as well as a despicable new villain. Not only do you get the underground fighter angle you'd expect from a Rebels prequel, but it also manages to present plausible, potentially horrific destruction on a planetary (or, at least, lunar) scale WITHOUT BLOWING IT UP WITH A SUPERLASER. And the Imperial curiosity over such large scale destruction further contextualizes the willingness of people to work towards such goals (and, ultimately the Death Star itself): "It's almost worth doing just to see what would happen."

It also introduces the notion of the Empire being in a phase of extreme resource acquisition for not only the Imperial fleet but also the materials obviously needing to be funneled towards the Death Star's construction. Something that would turn out to be one of the most unifying plot threads across all of the books in this era and would run through Catalyst, Rebel Rising, Thrawn & Rogue One, just to name a few.

There's also some nice bookending elements to Kanan & Hera's relationship here, as Kanan is first drawn to her based only on her voice- while, late on in Rebels, (spoilers) he's blinded and is left only being able to hear her voice. And, somewhat fitting into that idea is Hera's comment to Zaluna that "...seeing and doing nothing is not the worst thing. The worst thing is to see and not to care.".

Good entry point to the era- it's not the top book of the era, as it does have some subplots that aren't quite as engaging 100% of the time as others, but it's still really quite a solid book (and even during the parts where it may not grab me as much, I was comepleld to keep reading due to JJM's strength of writing). And reading JJM's style here made certain to finally read Kenobi almost next (had to read Dark Disciple before TCW Season 7 came out first).

9.0/10


My personal ranking of the NU Adult Novels (so far):
-The Last Jedi 10.0
-Catalyst 9.5
-Resistance Reborn 9.5
-A New Dawn 9.0
-Last Shot 9.0
-Canto Bight 9.0
-Alphabet Squadron 8.75
-Lords of the Sith 8.5
-The Force Awakens 8.5
-Phasma 8.25
-Bloodlines 8.0
-Aftermath: Empire's End 7.75
-Aftermath: Life Debt 7.5
-Tarkin 7.0
-Aftermath 7.0
-Galaxy’s Edge: Black Spire 6.0